This disclosure relates generally to a control system for experimental setups in laboratories, and more particularly to a modular system that can monitor and automatically change the power levels of various laboratory equipment to aid an operator in experimentation. The system can cooperate with laboratory equipment, such as heaters, coolers, pumps, stirrers, etc. The system can automatically record the power levels as well as other physical parameters and variables of the experimental setup, such as time, temperature, pressure, weight, etc.
Experimental setups in laboratories are geared toward determining the effect of variables on a parameter of the experiment. This can be accomplished by adjusting experimental variables, recording the effects of changes, and analyzing whether the changes are beneficial or detrimental. In a chemical lab, for example, various devices such as stirrers, pumps, motors, and heaters are responsible for different experimental variables. Each of these devices has its own power supply and control system. In many laboratory devices, such as magnetic stirrers and heaters, an operator controls device parameters by turning a knob that is integral to the device. Experiments are typically monitored by manually recording variables in a laboratory notebook where experimental variables are noted at predetermined time intervals.
Control of industrial processes, such as chemical processes, has been largely automated by using data acquisition systems that are hardwired into control panels. This control equipment is usually custom-designed for each process and is physically integrated into the process equipment. Desktop computers equipped with software can be incorporated into industrial control systems to control and monitor the equipment used to operate the process.